Hero and the Beast
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: After what she witnessed in the author's Lost, Witness, and Doomed, Chloe decides to take matters into her own hands to help her best friend, but will her actions come in time to save two despairing hearts? Slash.


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Title: "Hero and the Beast"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: R  
Summary: After what she witnessed in the author's "Lost", "Witness", and "Doomed", Chloe decides to take matters into her own hands to help her best friend, but will her actions come in time to save two despairing hearts?  
Disclaimer: Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, Martha Kent, and Smallville are © & TM DC comics, not the author. Chloe Sullivan and all other characters are © & TM their respective owners, who is also not Pirate Turner. The song is "I Can't Live (If Living Is Without You)" and belongs to Mariah Carey and its respective owners, yet again not Pirate Turner. Everything else is © & TM Pirate Turner. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction.  
Author's Note: Another lost one from May!

_No, I can't forget this evening  
Or your face as you were leaving  
But I guess that's just the way this story goes,  
You always smile...  
But in your eyes your sorrow shows  
Yes it shows_

_No I can't forget tomorrow  
When I think of all my sorrows  
When I had you there but then I let you go  
And now it's only fair that I should let you know  
What you should know _

Yes, it was only fair that she should let them know, she thought as she waited through the song, waiting for the particular verse she needed. No, it wasn't just fair. It was her only option. Her shoulders settled in resolve. It really was, after catching Clark a few weeks back, ready to take his own life, and earlier, seeing the tears in Lex's eyes when he'd thought no one had been watching. She didn't understand it, nor did she pretend to. How a hero like Clark could fall for a monster like Lex was far beyond her, but she would not let any Luthor be the undoing of her best friend, even if it meant going behind his back to say words he would never dare say. She took a deep breath as she hit the Record button and prayed her plan would work. If it didn't, countless innocents would die with no savior; Martha Kent's grief would drive her to her grave; her best friend would die, one way or another, from heartache; she would be left alone; and there would be no curing the evil of LuthorCorp.

_I can't live  
If living is without you  
I can't live  
I can't give anymore  
Can't live  
If living is without you  
can't give,  
I can't give anymore_

He blanched when he flipped open his cell phone to the words of a woman's voice, words he'd be thrilled to hear if only they came from another source. "Who is this?" he demanded but no answer came. Quickly, he checked the number, and his mouth fell open as he recognized the seven digits. He turned his back to the world, dialed the number the screen had read, and frowned when he heard it was busy. Stepping down onto the roof, Lex hurried toward his car.

_Well, I can't forget this evening  
Or your face as you were leaving  
But I guess that's just the way this story goes,  
You always smile  
But in your eyes your sorrow shows  
Yes it shows_

The image of her face, paled by shock and fear, haunted his mind, though nowhere near as often as that of the one he truly loved. He cared deeply for her and never wanted to see her be hurt, but he didn't know how much longer he could play the part she, and the world, expected of him. He wasn't the Man of Steel she tried to make him be. He wasn't the hero she swore he was. He was a coward, a coward who didn't have the courage to tell any one the truth, a coward who couldn't live with the white-hot pain that burned throughout his every being every day, a coward who, in only a matter of seconds, would finally stop that pain.

There was a note in his desk, explaining it all. He knew they wouldn't understand. He knew they'd be revulsed, but at least, maybe, that revulsion would save them. He remembered back to a few weeks before when he'd sworn he wouldn't do this, at least, not until they were safe. They were safe, though, he smiled sadly, and his good friend had no idea why he'd had him make that promise. Oliver would never expect the truth, not until it was too late.

A deep sigh raked his already trembling body. He'd never understand, and a part of him hated himself for using Oliver the way he had. He'd had no choice, though, for he caught himself, a few days before, simply falling through the sky and having neither want nor any intention of stopping himself. He had pulled back at the last second, but he'd known then that it was only a matter of time. Oliver would never understand, but he was a man of honor and would keep his word. His mother and best friend would be safe. Oliver had promised him that, and he knew he'd make good on that promise, though he himself, a weaker man, a coward of a man, and not really even a man at all, could not keep the promises he'd made.

The shrilling sound of his new cell phone startled Clark. Was it her? he wondered. She was calling, wondering what he was about to do, fearing it was just as he was doing? With his last action, he pulled out the cell phone she'd bought for him when he'd lost his other one and checked the number. He frowned in confusion when he saw the familiar digits of one of Lex's phones. It took a great struggle for him to answer the call, but when he did, it wasn't Lex's voice at all.

_I can't live  
If living is without you  
I can't live  
I can't give anymore  
Can't live  
If living is without you  
I can't live,  
I can't give anymore_

Could it be?! Was it possible that Lex could love him?! But then why -- He had to . . . He had to find out . . . Clark struggled to rise but couldn't find the strength. He dropped the phone as he tried, and failed, to push the kryptonite away. "Lex . . . " he cried, his voice a whimper. "LEX?!" Despite his efforts, his eyes drifted shut.

_Ohhhhhh(No I can't live)  
No no no (No I can't live)  
I can't live (No I can't live)  
If living is without (No I can't live)  
I can't live (No I can't live)  
I can't give anymore (No I can't live)_

He drove like a bat out of Hell with one hand on his steering wheel and the other on his phone, constantly redialing the number and only continuing to receive a busy dial tone. Tears stung his panicked blue eyes, and his heart ached with a feeling even more terrible than he'd already been suffering from. It couldn't be! He couldn't have!

Clark was stronger than that! Lex knew he was, but then hadn't he believed himself to be also and had he not been about to jump when he'd received Clark's phone call? His foot was already to the floor, but as he saw Clark's farm appearing up ahead, he ground his foot even harder into the accelerator. Ducking his head, he smashed through the fence, drove across the grassy hills, and came to a spinning stop almost inside the door of the barn. Slamming the brake on, Lex jumped from his car and ran toward the barn, screaming Clark's name at the top of his lungs.

When he found the still form of his beloved laying upon the floor, Lex's heart plummeted past his feet. He couldn't even breathe, but he managed to run nonetheless. He raced to his side, fell onto his knees, and gathered Clark into his arms. He shook him viciously. "CLARK! CLARK! YOU CAN'T DIE ON ME!" He neither knew nor would have cared if he'd known that a torrent of tears were pouring from his eyes like a flood.

Lex's tears splashed onto Clark's face, and his eyes fluttered. "CLARK! DON'T DIE ON ME! DON'T -- "

"Lex?" Clark rasped out weakly.

"Yes, yes, it's me, baby! Don't die on me! You can't die on me! I love you!" Had he said the words or only imagined them? "Clark, don't die on me, damn it! I love you! I can't live without you either!"

A scream from the entrance to the barn caused Lex's tear-filled face to snap up. He could barely make out the running form of Chloe Sullivan. "I didn't -- " he sobbed.

"The rock!" she cried. "The green rock! Throw it! Get it the Hell away from him!"

Lex looked down toward a green glow that only now caught his eye. He stared at the small piece of glowing kryptonite in shock.

"It'll kill him! Get it away from him before it's too late!"

He didn't understand, but that didn't matter. What mattered was this damned fragment of glowing rock from Hell was stealing away the life of the only one he'd ever truly loved. Lex snatched up the rock and threw it with all his strength. A flash of red snatched it in mid-air, and, in less than the blink of an eye, both the flash of red and the accursed rock were gone.

Lex looked back down at Clark. "Clark," his voice shook as much as his body trembled as he called to his beloved. "Clark, please, you can't die on me!" He tightened his hold on Clark's body as Chloe dropped down beside him. She was already crying, and he feared she would try to take Clark from him. She didn't make a further move toward them, however, but spoke through sobs.

"Clark, please, you can't die! Not now! It's gonna be okay! It's all gonna be all right! He's here! He loves you, just like you love him!" The blonde looked up at Lex with a fire suddenly burning in her teary eyes. "You do love him, right?!"

Lex had the sudden feeling that if he had disowned his love for Clark, the little reporter would have torn him apart at that very moment. "I do love him," he assured both Chloe and, far more importantly, Clark. "I love you with all my soul, all my heart, and yes, I do have one! I've kept it hidden, because . . . " He shook his head. "Without you and without your love in my life, nothing else mattered. I was just playing . . . playing the role every one thought I should and . . . and as for the meteor freaks . . . I was just trying to find a way to get closer to you . . . and I knew you fought them . . . and I didn't want them to kill you . . . You can't die on me, Clark!" He shook him again. "Without you, I'm lost! I don't want to live another day without you! I love you!"

At long last, Clark's eyes began to flutter open. "Lex?" he rasped. "What did you say?"

"Look at me. Please, Clark," Lex sobbed, "look at me." He waited until Clark's baby blue eyes met his, and then he repeated the words he'd ran from for so long, "I love you."

Clark's paled lips lifted into a tremulous smile. "I love you too, Lex." He struggled to lean up towards him.

Lex started to lean down toward Clark's beseeching mouth but froze when he heard the clicks of weaponry in the entrance to the barn. Chloe whirled around and jumped to her feet. "Guys, this isn't what this looks like!" There, in the door way, through the brilliant shades of the setting sun, the trio could barely make out the forms of the Justice League. Her arms and legs spread out, and Lex realized that the girl was making herself into a shield to block their aim at him. "Do you really think I'd stand between you two if Lex was hurting Clark? He's a monster," she admitted, to which Lex grimaced, "but he's Clark's monster. Kind of like Beauty and the Beast, I guess you could say, but more like Hero and the Beast . . . "

"Chloe . . . " Clark rasped.

"It's all right, Clark. I won't let them hurt him. I know what he means to you. You love him, and as your friend, I respect that and I want you to be happy. Why the heck else do you think I sent that song to you boys? Somebody had to get you two straightened out!"

"They're not going to understand . . . " he tried to warn.

"If they're really our friends, especially yours, they'll understand," she returned, "and they'll stand down."

"Clark?"

Clark could not see well enough yet to separately make out the forms of the young men standing in the doorway to his barn, but he knew the voice. "Oli -- " He stopped. There would be time later to explain everything to Lex and perhaps, with time, the others would learn to trust him as he did. "Green Arrow, I appreciate what you're . . . what you're trying to do for me, but . . . I love Lex, and he . . . he loves me . . . "

Lex tightened his grip and glared at the team of supposed heroes. Only the one with the bow, the one called Green Arrow, did not snort or chuckle. He did, however, slowly lower his bow. "Are you sure about this?"

"I've never been surer about anything in all my life. There's a note in my top desk drawer, Flash. Take it, and you all can read it. Just please leave us in peace, and . . . Green Arrow?" he called as the team began to retreat. "Thanks for your promise."

"It still stands. If anything ever happens -- "

"He's staying around for a long time," Chloe broke in, indicating that Oliver should leave.

Lex smiled. "We're going to make sure of that."

Chloe turned once to grin down at Clark and make sure he was going to be okay. "I guess I'll go and make sure they leave." Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at Lex. "But you better treat him right, Luthor, or he won't need a Justice League to have his back!"

"You don't have to worry, Chloe. I love him, and from this day forward, I'll always let him know, in every way I can, just how much I love him." He thought for a moment about apologizing for all the heartache he'd caused the girl, but he knew no mere words could ever replace what he'd taken from her nor make up for the miracle she'd just gifted him with. He smiled back down into the face of the man he loved more than anything and everything else in all the universe and then lowered his lips to his in a kiss that shook both their worlds.

**The End**


End file.
